Nothing ventured, nothing gained
by Susannah
Summary: A Lily and James fic (eventually) but some interesting meanderings on the way. Set in the fourth year to begin with, and a fair few couples on the side. LJ through and through :)
1. Different Perspectives

_Ok, another random flight of fancy for you to enjoy. It's a bit random and I'm not sure where this story is coming from, but (unlike some of my other stories) I know where this one's going. But anyway, I'm babbling. Never a good sign._

_Read it, tell me what you think, especially if it sucks. :)_

Disclaimer: I own nothing, its all J.K.Rowling's.

Different Perspectives

She brushed the dust casually off the edge of the window ledge before balancing her legs elegantly across it. The dust had rubbed off on her palms giving them a grey tint across the planes of her hands. She didn't notice though, or care. She was tucked away in the very corner of the expansive library, her head resting against a teak-panel embedded in the stone wall, a book propped against her thighs that she devoured hungrily, page by page.

Just as Lily lost herself in a world of someone else's imagination, when she was taken to the shattering heights of the sky down to the darkest reaches of the ocean, her concentration was broken.

Caroline arranged herself noisily in the chair opposite to Lily with a self-determined air. Only Lily's emerald eyes tracked her movement, the rest of her stayed completely still, comfortably relaxed.

"Thought I might find you here," her friend announced. Lily smirked, turning back to her book and continuing to read knowing that it would annoy Caroline. She also knew that whatever her light-haired friend had to say, it could not be swayed. She sighed to herself resignedly.

"You know there's actually things going on in the outside world," her friend tried again.

"Mm hmm," agreed Lily, intent on reading about a world beyond her grasp.

Taking this as an invitation to continue, Caroline continued: "Betty Bones and Sirius Black have just had a very noisy break-up next to the lake. Again."

"Mm hmm," prompted the red-haired girl, turning a page.

"He was apparently two-timing her. Or possibly triple-timing her. It was a tad uncertain."

"Mm hmm," Lily punctuated.

"Severus Snape is staring over here," whispered the brunette confidentially.

"Mm hmm?" replied her friend absently.

Caroline narrowed her eyes in irritation. "An invisible pink dragon just flew past the window."

"Uh huh." Another page turned.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Lily looked up suddenly, the pause hanging in the air. She smiled guiltily. "Um, yes?"

"I don't know why I even bother," complained the Ravenclaw, bringing out a nail file and casually filing her nails. Her annoyance was given away by the unnecessarily violent strokes though.

Lily put the book down reluctantly. "I'm sorry Caroline. I'm sure the rest of the school life is fascinating, but-"

"You don't have the time or the patience to understand. Yes I know, you've told me before," pouted the brown-haired girl, fixing Lily with tense brown eyes. "You have to make an effort though Lil, how else will you ever fit in?"

Lily sighed deeply. She'd explained this before a million times. "Caro, I don't _want_ to fit in, I'm quite happy being just me."

"Well, you can be you and a social butterfly at the same time," asserted Caroline. She frowned slightly. "Or, well, theoretically you can."

This caused a snort of amusement from Lily. "Maybe, maybe, but let's not risk it eh?"

Caroline frowned at her. "I don't understand you Lil. You're so pretty you could have anyone you want easily, yet you're not even interested?"

"Bad experiences," muttered the redhead, burying her face resolutely back in her book.

"I missed that, pardon?"

Lily smiled at her calmly. "Let's just say the male species don't particularly enthral me. Certainly not the retards of Hogwarts." She smirked before going back to her book.

"They're not that bad," defended the Ravenclaw, picking out a potions textbook from her bag and propping it open on her lap. "Some of them are pretty good-looking," she reflected.

"If you're talking about Mason, Tom, Remus, Arthur or Lucius then _please_ spare me."

Caroline bristled. "At least _I_ actually _like _people," she retorted.

"We had that conversation," reminded Lily serenely.

Caroline slammed the textbook down, frustration sparking from her eyes. "Just because you don't give a flying gobstone about anyone, doesn't mean everyone's like it. One day Lily Rose Evans you're going to look around and realise that there's nobody _there._" With that she got up and walked off, her heavy breathing still audible at the other end of the library.

Lily watched her go sadly. Many of their conversations ended up that way; she didn't know why Caroline continued being her friend really. The hurt she felt from her friend's outburst was easily dispersed; it was hardly the worst anyone had said to her.

She rested her red hair against the wooden panel staring unseeingly into space. Caroline could never understand her desire to be away from the madding crowd, to be out of the rumour mills and excluded from the social backstabbing she heard so much about through her friend. She was better off alone, she always had been, that's how things were.

Lily returned her concentration to the book at hand not noticing the avid gaze from a certain dark-headed boy on the other side of the library.


	2. Just Testing

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all courtesy of Ms Rowling.

Just testing

Lily sat calmly in the D.A.D.A lesson. Playing with a lock of hair between her fingers, her mind was obviously on other things.

"So, how would you repel a Grindylow? No-one?" Professor Montague surveyed her class with displeasure. "Miss Evans?" she asked, picking on the Gryffindor purely because she disliked people prettier than her.

Lily took a couple of vital seconds to work out she had drawn the short straw of the lesson. "Um," she couldn't meet the Professor's gaze, instead opting to stare studiously into space.

"And now a more eloquent answer?" prompted the teacher.

"By... um..." She caught sight of a certain James Potter in the corner of her eye. "Smelling really bad?"

The professor's already annoyed disposition quickly converted to towering rage. "Do you listen to _anything_ that happens in class?" she exclaimed rhetorically. "I think that merits a detention tonight," Montague announced coolly before turning to the rest of the class, "and let that be a lesson to all of you." She eyed the two dark-haired Gryffindor fourth years that were silently shaking with laughter dangerously. At a quick nudge from their friends they soon got their giggles under control though.

"What do you reckon's wrong with her?" James asked his now-sober friend.

Sirius shrugged. "PMS maybe?"

Remus elbowed them both sharply. "Don't push it," he warned, never taking his eyes off the teacher who was sitting at her desk far-too-calmly and quietly.

"You're too paranoid Moony," dismissed Sirius drawing an interesting pattern on the desk that looked a lot like a pair of breasts. "It's not like I've never made a lady mad at me before," he winked suggestively.

"Then," said a voice alarmingly near to them, "you won't mind having a week of detentions and twenty points from your house Black."

Sirius gulped audibly. "Yes, Miss." He scowled murderously at her retreating back though.

"Good. On to Hinkypunks we go."

Lily retreated back into herself. A whole _evening_ with Sirius Black? She'd probably want to kill herself by the end. She threw a dirty look over her shoulder at the four 'Marauders', but didn't feel particularly much better about it.

None of the Gryffindors understood Lily Evans very well; she was something of an enigma to all of them. Of course, in the first year some of them had tried to befriend her, bring her out of herself, spend time with her, but she had never been particularly warm to them or involved in the world around her. So they had stopped, and the Gryffindors fell into a social pattern.

Four boys friendships had slowly stood out from everyone else's, these four boys soon earned a reputation as troublemakers, lawbreakers, pushing the limits and stretching the rules. They called themselves the Marauders. Led by Sirius Black and James Potter, with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew not far behind, they had created quite a storm of both disapproval and admiration solely by the end of the first year.

Throughout the first two years of her schooling life many students had picked on her because she was different. But none more so than the Gryffindor gods themselves. Lily was nothing if not a grudge-holder.

So she had become more withdrawn than anyone thought possibly, barely exchanging words, even with her roommates, despite their best efforts. Finally, everyone left her alone, even the four boys forgot of her existence. That suited her fine; she needed nothing from no one. It was simply a higher state of independence.  
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"Oh please," gloated Sirius adding another fig leaf to the subtly burning cauldron in the common room. "The Chudley Cannons would cream the Dartmoor Dragonflies. It's a fact of nature my friend."

James surveyed the room quickly to make sure no one was paying attention to their escapade in the corner. Peeves had drenched two-second year girls; they were rather hysterical and so distracting everyone from doing anything that required hearing themselves think. "Only in freak weather conditions Black," he retorted.

Sirius shrugged. "If you like to live in dreams..." he let the sentence hang, smirking all the while.

James sent a glare his way. "Shouldn't you be at detention?"

His friend arched an eyebrow derisively. "Trying to get rid of me?"

Taking the stirrer out of Sirius' hands, James added two tiny pink pebbles and watched the potion sputter slightly. "It needs to stand for three hours now."

"I_ know_ how to make an Invisibility Potion," replied Sirius. "Where's Remus anyway?"

James shrugged. "Out," he offered.

"No way!" exclaimed Sirius mockingly. "Really?"

James pushed him non-too-gently in the direction of the common room door. "Detention. Now," he snapped, losing patience with his sarcastic friend and feeling a bit of worry for his missing friend. Remus went missing far too often for it to be normal.

"Yes, Sir!" saluted Sirius rolling his eyes before turning towards the common room door. He winked at a couple of fifth years that giggled and blushed. Sirius smirked to himself, taking it only as his due.  
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_I realised only after writing it that some of the characters are slightly different than they are portrayed in the book. However, they are only fourteen at the moment, they still have a lot of time to grow into the characters that we know and love! Sirius isn't actually nasty he just 'knows it all' like any other teenager ;) but things will all change soon enough!_

Sweetginny86 – I hope you liked this chapter also. You are my only reviewer so far, so gold star for you :)

Xx Susannah xx


	3. Detention

Disclaimer: not mine, J.K.Rowling's. Say it with me now.__

_Ok, I've actually made an interesting decision. This story is on the same thread as my other fic 'As Thunder Rolls'. There will be a tie in from time to time, and maybe a few things that will explain some things in the other story and vice versa. Nothing drastic though, as this is, fundamentally, an entirely separate fic. But anyway, just thought you should all know._

Detention

Lily trailed dreamily through the corridors of Hogwarts. She was thinking of how it would feel to grow up, to have everything she ever wanted, to be someone to be reckoned with.

She walked abruptly into an obstacle.

The Gryffindor looked up into the dark eyes of Severus Snape. "Oh, it's you," she observed, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Watch where you're going Mudblood," he hissed, characteristic of his house.

Lily narrowed her eyes feeling anger tingle through her veins. "Better than soulless," she snapped in retort, feeling the comforting weight of her wand in her right-hand pocket.

He snorted vindictively. "Little girl, you have no idea," the Slytherin replied menacingly, looking down on Lily.

The redhead puffed herself up indignantly, rising to her full height. A fire sparked in her green pupils, making him want to take a step backwards. "Haven't you got some small animals to torture? Or some dark magic to learn? Because, y'know, I thought that name calling was _so_ below Slytherin scum." She grinned at her own contradiction in terms.

Severus observed in amazement that when she smiled her whole demeanour drastically changed. What was her name again? He only knew she was muggleborn. "You're in my way," he announced coldly.

"Well stamp your foot and throw a tantrum," Lily shot back condescendingly, somehow succeeding in making him feel inferior and immature. She swept past him and back up the hallway, leaving him to wonder why exactly he'd never noticed her before.

Lily finally arrived at the Divination room, still fuming from her encounter with the Slytherin bigot.

"You're late," announced Professor Mason.

"Yes, sorry," apologised Lily quietly, placing her bag down on a nearby desk. Sirius was already sitting on one of the couches strewn around the room looking very smug and arrogant. As ever.

"You have been sent to me to serve detention, so maybe you will learn something whilst you are here," instructed the teacher matter-of-factly. She was very different to previous Divination professors they had had – this one could actually hold an entire conversation without looking 'misty'.

Lily nodded, even though the teacher couldn't actually see her. "You are to polish the crystal balls, tend to the tea leaves and make sure that the tarot cards are properly ordered and in the right-coloured silk. I will be in my office if you need me." The professor swept away and vanished into the corner of the classroom, where Lily could scarcely distinguish a door between the clouds of vapour that always resided in the Divination tower.

Now she was alone with Sirius. Fabulous.

Lily went straight to work to avoid having to look, or in any other way have contact, with the cocky Gryffindor.

_Had my fill of chauvinists for today thank you._

She polished the first crystal ball carefully, watching as it went a very violent red colour in her hands. She pursed her lips; she didn't need a crystal ball to tell her she was incensed.

"So, um," started Sirius, airily suggestive as ever. "What's your name again?"

_It's not like I fell off the map, I'm in his house for god's sake._

She straightened up and looked him in the eye. "Out of your league I believe covers it."

"Well Miss Out-of-my-league, why haven't I seen you around much? You're in Gryffindor aren't you?" He thought about it for a few moments. "We share D.A.D.A with the Hufflepuffs though. You're not one of them, are you?"

"You say it like some kind of disease. Hufflepuffs are people too," she retorted derisively.

"But you can't be one of them," asserted Sirius.

"And why would that be?" Lily asked, failing to keep the curiosity out of her voice. She still didn't look up from the polishing of her now red-swirling-purple crystal ball though.

"You're too pretty," he replied simply.

Lily snorted, finally stopping her scrubbing to watch him absently unroll a pack of Tarot Cards from the luxurious black silk. "You know nothing about me," she replied calmly.

"Sure I do," asserted the black-haired Gryffindor. "I know you're in my year and in Gryffindor."

"Wow," marvelled Lily mockingly. "That's amazing, did you figure it all out on your own?" She put the crystal ball down and it immediately reverted to a serene light yellow haze, she threw it a glare for good measure.

Sirius was quite taken aback, usually girls would either roll over and do what ever he wanted or they ran away. They generally didn't stick around to bad mouth him. "Do you know who I am?" he asked inquisitively.

"Course I do, Mr-I'm-Sirius-almighty-Black-you should-fall-at-my-feet-and-worship-me. It's kind of difficult to miss," she bit, picking up another crystal ball that instantly went a furious, tempestuous, blood red.

"Fine," said Sirius evenly, eyeing the colour of the ball in her hands a bit worriedly. "So please tell me your name? I know it begins with 'L', I remember you from second year. Where did you go last year?"

"I was here you moron. Just because you can't see past your ego, doesn't mean people don't exist." Lily fixed him with a glower that firmly said 'push me further and you'll regret it'.

For the first time in his life, Sirius Black backed down. He was quite partial to all his limbs, preferably intact, and this girl looked like she could do some damage.

The rest of the two hours passed in silence with only the fumes and the crackling of the fire to soften it at all.

Finally they were dismissed and walked a little way apart back to Gryffindor tower. Sirius muttered the password ('Peskipiksi') and opened the portrait for Lily unthinkingly.

She gave his a strange look before climbing through. Just before she disappeared up the staircase to the girls dormitories she turned and said two words to him.

"Lily Evans."

And was gone.

_Well thanks go to my two reviewers this time! :)_

_Poky – salute much appreciated!_

_Victoria27 – thank you kindly for your review all the same, a big platinum star for reviewing all of my stories!! :)_

Xx Susannah xx 


	4. Revelations

Disclaimer: Yup, still owning nothing here except the occasional random character.

Revelations

Remus stumbled down to breakfast, absently inserting himself between Peter and James in the chatter of the great hall. His three best friends eyed him worriedly.

"Remus, you look like someone ran you over with a combine harvester," James said concernedly.

"A what-now?" asked Sirius curiously, Peter mirroring his look.

James shook his head sharply showing there were more important things at hand. Remus, for example.

"It's nothing," replied the brown-haired Gryffindor vaguely trying to butter his toast with some pumpkin-juice.

"Well it doesn't seem to be nothing," Sirius answered, replacing the glass of pumpkin-juice with the plate of butter.

"Honestly, I'm just not getting enough sleep."

"Maybe that's because you never come to bed," suggested James, watching his friend closely.

"I slept in the common room," Remus lied, wishing to God that he'd never been cursed. "I have to go now. See you later." With that he exited the hall, still starving, but unable to face his friend's questions any longer. If they knew about him, they'd never stay friends with him anyway.

The three remaining Marauder's watched him go, exchanging worried looks. There was a great deal of investigating needed to be done.

Sirius glanced along the table and caught a familiar glint of red hair. "There, that girl," he pointed out to James. His friend followed his finger.

"Yes, I see her," replied James eyeing the girl carefully. She was very pretty.

"Do you know what her name is?"

James shrugged. "She's in our year isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's the one I had detention with last night."

"Ooh," exclaimed his friend, winking at Sirius insinuatingly.

Usually he would have played along, but this time he shook his head, remembering the girl's anger at him. What could he have done to make her than furious?

"No, nothing happened, except her getting really angry."

"Why what'd you do," questioned James curiously.

"That's the thing, I have no idea."

"She's Lily Evans, isn't she?" inquired Peter from behind a mound of pancakes. Both James and Sirius had momentarily forgotten about him.

"Yes," agreed Sirius slowly. "How did you know?"

"Well she _is_ in practically all our classes. And we were pretty nasty to her in second year." He stated offhandedly.

Sirius thought very hard and indistinctly remembered a flash of red hair and pale skin. Yes, he remembered now, a skinny little thing, quiet as a mouse. He looked up and saw her - she hadn't changed that much. Still skinny, her red hair may have brightened a little, but this only served to enhance the paleness of her pallor.

He couldn't forget how she'd spoken to him though, like she couldn't care what he thought of her, or, indeed, what he said to her.

Unbeknownst to the three marauders and Lily, she was being watched from another corner of the hall also. Severus Snape studied her shrewdly from the depths of the Slytherin table.

Lucius Malfoy glanced down at the dark-haired fourth year coldly. "What are you watching the Gryffindor table for?" he inquired, pushing silver hair behind his ears.

Snape jerked out of his perusal of the redhead. "Just trying to see whether Potter and Black have mysteriously vanished yet," he covered with barely a flicker of an eyelid.

Lucius was two years above, in sixth year, and already heavily involved in the dark arts. Rumour had it that he had already made his first kill. "I thought you were looking at the mudblood bitch." Malfoy also didn't miss anything.

"She insulted me in the hall yesterday," Severus shrugged. "I was thinking of ways to repay her."

The older boy nodded in approval. "Who needs friends when you have sadism," he jibed, mocking the younger boy's social status. With that, he got up and walked away, leaving Severus staring after him with a glare in his eyes.  
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The day dragged on and Lily felt eyes following her everywhere. No doubt Black and his pathetic posse were tracking to see whether she'd explode again. Well they wouldn't have the benefit of seeing that ever again, she couldn't believe she'd risen to the bait that Sirius had dangled.

Lily chalked it up to being so annoyed after her unwelcome encounter with the Slytherin. Finally the classes finished and she as free to go away from the stares of people who would never know her.

She closeted herself away in 'her room' as she chose to think of it. The room itself was on the seventh floor, and she didn't know of anyone else that ever visited it. Every time she came it was slightly different, as though altered to her moods.

Today the wall colour was a light magnolia, but the firelight danced across them making them deep crimson in the shadow. She sat contentedly in the soft, squishy armchair near to the fire and embroiled herself in her book.

Had it not been for this room, she'd probably never have made it through Hogwarts up until now. Personal space wasn't exactly forthcoming with this many students in one place.

A howl echoed outside the window. She looked across sharply in time to see a large grey wolf lope into the fringes of the forbidden forest. A shiver worked its way down her spine.

Wolves, at Hogwarts?  
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_Waytoomuchtime – the characters are different at the moment to how they are represented in the book, but they are only fourteen so they still have a lot of learning and growing to do, theoretically ending up in the characters that are remembered by the current Harry Potter and friends._

_Victoria27 – here is more for you, you won't have to wait much for this story because it's already finished in my head :)_

_Madame-knight – soon she will end up in her book-character; I'm just tracking the progress. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter also!_

_Tai-for-you – yes, Lily is quite feisty, but at the moment she's rather pissed off! Things will change soon though. Thank you for your encouraging review :)_

_Xx Susannah xx_


	5. A Question of Faith

Disclaimer: I own the plot and the characters you don't recognise. Everything else belongs to the great and hallowed J.K.Rowling. Amen.

A Question of Faith

Lily sat completely still for five minutes, watching the place where the wolf had disappeared in shock. Then a curiosity was born through the fear.

She navigated through the winding passages of Hogwarts, blending with the shadows so as not to be seen. Although she generally disapproved of breaking rules, she could sneak as well as the next Hogwarts student. Save perhaps the Slytherins, who must have classes in sneaking at some point in their student careers.

With a form of feline grace she navigated onto the lawn, moving cautiously to the head of the stone steps that led onto the grass and the rest of Hogwart's grounds.

The illogicality of what she was doing suddenly crashed into her. If what she had seen had been a wolf, or even possibly, a werewolf, then she was only putting her life at risk by coming out to investigate. Yet still a part of her was determined to stay out there and watch, to make sure her eyes hadn't deceived her.

Tonight there was a definite edge to the atmosphere, like it was teetering on the brink of all hell breaking loose. For the first time, Lily resolved to be in the middle of it.  
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James watched his two best friends diligently; well at least he tried to. Technically all there was to see was a flying knut and sickle.

Sirius was at the front; well he was pretty sure it was Sirius who kept swearing as Peter trod on his heels. If it wasn't they may have to worry.

Peter was a little way in front of James, the knut he carried bobbing along, seemingly suspended in midair.

The invisibility potion had worked a dream, but James thought it might have disagreed with certain important areas of his anatomy. Such as his stomach.

The sickle abruptly stopped bobbing but Peter didn't notice, instead ploughing straight into Sirius-the-sickle and both coins went cascading (rather noisily) across the floor.

James was torn between freezing and giggling, deciding on the former. Then promptly remembered he couldn't be seen. "Get up you idiots," he snickered. He checked the corridor to make sure there was no one about who would suspect a magically flying knut, sickle and galleon. He wished they could have found other ways to work out where each other were. Behind him he heard Sirius being swearing in uniquely imaginative way, as only he could, about Peter's clumsiness.

He walked calmly out of the double doors of Hogwarts, expecting it to be clear sailing from here.

Lily Evans sat elegantly on the cornerstone of the terraced grey stonewall, staring pointedly at him as though she could see him.

For the second time in five minutes James froze. Then realised that she couldn't be looking at him, because there was nothing to see. He sighed quietly, playing with the galleon in the palm of his hand.

"Galleons don't fly on their own," her voice cut through his relief. "And they certainly don't sigh."

James thought that maybe it would be best to come back and find out what Remus was doing another time. That was until Sirius and Peter clamoured through the doors making enough noise to weak the dead, the undead and probably a decent number of the long-since-dust dead. James rolled his eyes wearily.

They went silent the moment they saw Lily.

"Sounds like Black," observed the redheaded Gryffindor. "Which would make the knut and the galleon, Pettigrew and Potter. Am I right?" she smiled disconcertingly in the general direction of the three friends.

"No," muttered Sirius, attempting, and failing, to disguise his voice with a different pitch.

Lily smirked. "But where's the fourth? You're not the complete trouble-making group without Lupin." She paused for a second thoughtfully. "Or maybe you just ran out of coins."

"We'd like to know that too," agreed Peter apparently unthinkingly. James trod on where his foot should theoretically be. A small whimper of pain satisfied him.

A glimmer of movement on the wide expanse of lawn directly behind Lily caught James' eye. The grass ran down to the lake, perfectly trimmed and tended by Professor Baden, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. He focused his eyes on the spot where he thought he'd seen movement, but it was difficult to tell. It could be any number of small animals, or even simply the wind whispering in the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Or it could be something worse.

Before they'd left the common room the three remaining friends had decided that whatever secret it was Remus had and was keeping from them, it had to be something big or he would have told them long ago. Although the 'Marauders' had been formed in their first year, Remus had only become a proper, all-involved best friend in the group at the end of the second year and going into the third. Before then he had been very shy and had preferred to study rather than spending enough time with the other boys. Surprisingly it had been Sirius who had pushed the hardest for all of Remus' friendship, and they'd got there in the end.

"Well I'm sorry I can't help you," the girl, Evans, was saying. She arranged herself comfortably cross-legged on the solid stone block and casually watched the world around her.

A cloud blew from in front of the moon, displaying the silver orb in all its full and rounded glory. The blackened clouds scudded around it, forming rings that haunted the four students far below.

A howling abruptly erupted from somewhere worryingly close to the Hogwarts entrance and the four teens looked up to see a fully-grown werewolf with its head tilted towards the moon. James felt fear and adrenalin pump through his veins.

"Holy fucking shit," swore Sirius quietly but with emphasis.

But there was no more time for thinking (or swearing) because as soon as the wolf saw he had their attention it began to bound towards them, teeth bared.  
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_CrystalizedLily – yes, you will be seeing more of Caroline in the not-too-distant future, fear not. I'm glad you are enjoying this story, I hope you like this chapter also!_

_Madame-knight – he was indeed the boy in the library. I will try and keep my updating consistent! Thank you for reviewing every chapter – you are very patient! I am grateful indeed :)_

_Poky – Aww, don't feel bad! You are one of my main story reviewers! Without you and a couple of other dedicated reviewers I may have lost the will to write ages ago! But anyway, the next chapter will be up soon methinks (Can't leave y'all on a cliffy now can I?)_

_Xx Susannah xx_


	6. Call of the Wild

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Call of the Wild

James had only an instant to act, and what he did he could only explain later as completely instinctual. As the werewolf took off from the ground and soared through the air, it headed straight at where Lily was perched on the end of the wall.

James grabbed her with only a split second to spare, using his momentum to take them clear of the wall and flowerbed, and they landed, rather solidly, on the grass, entwined, and rolled to a stop.

The werewolf continued its flight through the air, scattering Sirius and Peter noisily to both sides. James cursed under his breath. There was a chance they may have been overlooked by the wolf, but not now they'd succeeded in making so much noise.

The beast shook its shaggy mane, as though trying to dislodge the impact of hitting the concrete after it's fast trajectory course. Cautiously it sniffed the air to both sides, first to Peter's, then Sirius'. James had no idea where they were anymore, the coin idea had been discarded the first second that the werewolf had howled. He prayed that they were getting as far away from it as possible.

He extricated himself quickly from Lily. They had to get her to safety, her forehead was scraped and bleeding, James couldn't remember that happening, but it had all the same. She didn't look in any fit state to even stand up though. He hefted her into his arms, his skinny frame bracing against her weight, and turned to find the werewolf again. If there was a chance he could get her actually into Hogwarts then he could come back to help the others.

It was nowhere to be seen. The worst-case scenarios flicked through James' head; maybe it was in Hogwarts? Maybe it had gone after Peter or Sirius and was right now doing something unmentionable. He felt the blood drain from his face at the mere thought.

James hurried, stumbling as fast as he could whilst holding Lily in his arms. She opened her eyes briefly, but quickly shut them again as it appeared she was just floating in midair. He placed her gently just inside the door, making sure her head didn't hit the stone painfully. She moaned slightly before lying still. He eyed her worriedly.

"I'll be back," he whispered, somewhat apologetically, but wasn't sure whether she heard him.

He exited the doors and found a smear of blood across the grey stone. _Please not Peter or Sirius._

James glanced around the immediate vicinity trying to pinpoint where the werewolf had gone; he had to find out whether Sirius or Peter had been taken with it. Nothing met his gaze, but on the edges of his hearing he could sense a commotion coming from his left. It was very distant, or very muffled, he was uncertain, but a lot of noise none-the-less.

A tingling started inexplicably in his fingertips. James glanced down to see the rounded crescents of his fingernails becoming visible in the moonlight. The potion was wearing off.

He found himself on the edge of a clearing, peering through the dense tree trunks he spotted the werewolf clawing at the bark of a tree on the opposite side of the clearing. After a few moments of watching, James could distinguish stones being thrown out of the trees braches at the werewolf, only succeeding in making it angrier. That had to be Peter; Sirius would be somewhere about, maybe in another tree, formulating some sort of plan. He wouldn't have deserted Peter.

A small part wondered where Remus was in all this, hoping he was safe and out of harm's way. They would have to talk to him tomorrow. If they ever made it to tomorrow.

James could see his entire hand now, as well as his feet. His arms and legs were fast appearing too.

"Hello, mate," murmured a voice close to his right.

James jumped, albeit imperceptibly. "Sirius. We need to get Peter out of there."

"I know," agreed his friend. "Easier said than done though. "I can't remember a thing about werewolves."

"We were only taught about them last year," reminded James.

"Exactly, ages ago."

The werewolf growled in rage, and clawed higher up the tree. James thought quickly. "Ok, we have two options. We distract the werewolf and run like hell-"

"Which would probably get us killed," interjected Sirius.

James nodded, although his friend couldn't see. "Or we wait for the rest of us to appear and I use my wand."

"You've had your wand all this time and haven't used it?!" exclaimed Sirius in complete disbelief.

"You can't use an invisible wand," defended James.

"In theory," Sirius corrected. "In practise?"

"I haven't tried," admitted his friend digging in his pocket for the comforting mahogany wand. He pointed the wand at the werewolf cautiously. "_Diffindo Corpal!"_ he cried. The jinx hit the werewolf across its shoulders, splitting the flesh open into a wide gash. The wolf whimpered in pain, spinning to face the new threat. When it caught scent of James and Sirius' odours, the haunches went up and it growled menacingly, apparently unperturbed by the pain of its back.

"Stun it, you idiot," hissed Sirius.

"_Impedimenta!"_

The wolf slowed but didn't stop. "Peter, quick!" yelled Sirius, his hair slowly appearing in the darkness. It was eerie seeing only his arms, most of his legs, and his hair, reflected James absently.

The three boys took off together across the grass, Peter lagged behind though. It seemed he had a limp. The two dark-haired boys dropped back and chivvied him along, always keeping a watchful eye on the entrance to the Forbidden Forest.

Finally they arrived, flushed and panting, on the stone tiles directly outside the entrance hall. The better part of their bodies were now visible, for which James was thankful. He didn't feel as stupid talking to thin air now.

"Oh! I forgot the girl!" he exclaimed suddenly. Peter still had his hands on his knees and was panting, Sirius looked up sharply though.

"What did you do with her?"

James pushed the double doors open. "I put her just here…" he trailed off. The last person they wanted to see was standing over the unconscious form of Lily Evans.

--------------

_I promise that's the last cliff-hanger for a while, I just couldn't resist this one! _

_Child-of-scorpio – here is the next chapter! I will try and update as quickly as possible to avoid the what-happened-to-the-rest-of-this-story syndrome. Hope you enjoy it! :)_

_ItsLilyFlower2U – thank you, your review was much appreciated! I hope you liked this chapter as well._

_Madame-knight – yes, this story's flowing rather easier than some of my others at the moment, so I might as well take advantage of it :)_


	7. Rumours

Disclaimer: not mine, J.K.Rowling's.

Rumours

Severus Snape examined the girl's face curiously. There was a graze across her forehead that was beginning to scab over but other than that she looked unharmed.

Suddenly the entrance doors swung open and Severus found himself face-to-face with James Potter himself. He smirked.

"Trying to kill fellow students now, Potter?" he inquired silkily.

James started forwards to find out how Lily actually was. Severus held out a hand, warding him back.

"Or maybe just a very violent lover's tryst?"

"You'd love that wouldn't you Snivellus," Sirius spat, shooting death glares his way.

The Slytherin's eyes narrowed angrily, but he ignored the jibe non-the-less. "Well, why don't you tell me what happened? Because at the moment I'm thinking any number of things." He sneered nastily.

James realised that he meant he could start various stories on what they had been doing outside, and what had happened to Lily. He was loath to tell the truth to the Slytherin though, and a part of him was very reluctant to tell anyone about the werewolf.

"She fell down some stairs," he answered abruptly.

Snape smiled unkindly. "Don't tell lies as a profession," he suggested. Slowly, and the Gryffindors watched in amazement, the Slytherin boy picked Lily up from the floor. Her head lolled unpleasantly to one side, making her seem like a rag doll. "She needs to go to the hospital wing," he announced and was gone, down the winding corridors of Hogwarts.

"What's he playing at?" Peter asked curiously.

Sirius and James shared an unreadable look. "He goes to the hospital wing, plays the hero, gets to tell whatever story he wants about Evans, and they'll believe him. Basically we're doomed by the whole of Gryffindor."

Peter frowned. "Well why don't we go and tell them the right version?"

"What, and say we were out looking for Remus – who has disappeared – but found a werewolf instead. We also used an invisibility potion and stole ingredients from the Potions classroom," snorted James humourlessly.

"I guess not."

"I wonder where Remus actually _is_," Sirius said, voicing what they were all thinking out loud.

"We'll talk to him tomorrow," replied James. They began to walk the path back to Gryffindor tower.

Tomorrow would be a trying day indeed.  
------------

Lily awoke to a pounding in her head. Sunlight filtered through the curtains of the hospital wing, making her squint. She rolled to the side and winced as a bruise on her right hip came into contact with the mattress.

Madam Pomfrey breezed in from her office.

"Ah, your awake," she said, stating the obvious. "Let's see how your head is doing. Quite a nasty knock you took there." The matron tutted about dangerous night-wanderings.

"What happened?" asked Lily slowly, straining her mind to recollect.

"You don't remember at all?" she inquired, plumping up Lily's pillows.

Lily shook her head, but then quickly stopped because it made her vision spin.

"Well, Mr Snape of Slytherin came in carrying you at the wee hours of this morning. He said you'd been pushed down some stairs."

The Gryffindor frowned, she certainly didn't remember Snape, or, for that matter, any stairs. "Who did he say pushed me?" Lily asked slowly.

The matron fixed her with a level look. "He said, that he saw Black, Potter and Pettigrew running away." Pomfrey looked understandably shocked as though she didn't believe it. "He was quite adamant though. He did save you – you could have caught hypothermia on the cold stone floors of Hogwarts." She clucked disapprovingly. "I'll just find some balm for your bruises and heal your head," she explained, bustling away into her office.

Lily lay and stared at the ceiling. Could they really have pushed her? Oh, if only she could remember something. The last thing was finishing lessons the day before and going up to 'her room'. Then something happened, but she couldn't, for the life of her, recall what.

And, would Snape really have bothered helping her if there wasn't anything in it for him?

But there was no time for further contemplation as the doors of the hospital wing opened and Professor Dumbledore entered, floating a stretcher just behind him. Lily watched curiously as the body was unloaded gently on to the bed. A flash of brown hair caught her attention.

Dumbledore whispered something to Madam Pomfrey before turning to exit the room, winking at Lily on the way past.

Lily found herself staring straight at an unconscious Remus Lupin in the opposite bed. He looked somewhat the worse for wear and, as Madam Pomfrey turned him over muttering about irresponsible children, she caught sight of an impressive and painful looking gash across the top of his shoulders.

Lily heard the matron catch her breath looking at it, before efficiently healing the Gryffindor. The redhead watched curiously, wondering. Where had he been? What could have done something like that to Remus Lupin?

She thought there were a few things about the previous night that needed to be explained by various people.  
---------

Child-of-scorpio – this one is purely for you, lol. I had it already written so I thought you might enjoy reading it so that you don't suffer from heart failure. Hehe :)

_Xx Susannah xx_


	8. Manipulation and Realisation

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Manipulation and Realisation

Lily left the hospital wing during the early morning to find Severus Snape himself waiting for her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, taking her off-guard.

"Fine," she muttered, wondering why he cared. "Thanks, by the way."

He waved it away, ignoring the grudging tone in her voice. "It was nothing." After an awkward pause he offered his arm to her politely.

Nonplussed at the gesture, Lily furiously questioned herself about what he was doing. At a loss as what else to do she accepted his arm, and linked it with hers.

"Why are you being so... nice?" she finally blurted out, for some reason caring that she sounded rude.

He chuckled, catapulting Lily into the twilight zone. Severus Snape _chuckled_?! "Well, I realised I was very rude to you the other day, and I just wanted to apologise."

Lily frowned, on the edge of asking who possessed him. He _couldn't_ be genuine... could he? "Accepted," she murmured. Another pregnant pause. "So did they-" she didn't need to specify who _they_ were "really push me?"

Snape stopped walking, turning to look at her. He nodded gravely. "I saw them running away. I think they pushed the mischief making too far this time, they're not even that nasty to me."

Lily couldn't see the trap, couldn't sense the manipulation, instead seeing him as a likeness of herself. She nodded, linking arms with him again; "People like us should stick together," she said familiarly, disbelieving of the small flame of friendship that began to burn. At least on her part.

Severus smirked, out of her line of vision. She had gone like a lamb to slaughter; once he was through with her, this would be one Gryffindor who would _never_ stand up to him again.

"Could you help me with some charms homework?" he asked, adding just the right amount of sincerity to his voice.

"Of course," agreed Lily readily, clean forgetting about Lupin and his injuries. Charms was her favourite subject, and she felt a desire to deepen the friendship between herself and Snape, even if only through the gratitude that she now felt for him rescuing her. An ignored part of her was questioning why he was about in Hogwarts at that time of night in the first place... but she paid no heed.  
-----------

Sirius woke before the others. The first thing he saw was Remus' empty bed. Usually Remus was back from his nightly excursions by this time, and part of him began to worry. Not a good way to start the day he concluded.

Breakfast was a sombre affair for the three Marauders. Word had spread around the whole of Hogwarts, seemingly in the two hours that everyone had been awake, and naturally the whole of Gryffindor were privy to a 'version' of the night's events and saw fit to judge the three boys on it.

After Sirius had asked a pretty third year, Rebecca someone, to pass the butter close to eight times, and been ignored every time, James suggested going to the Library, the Hospital Wing, the Astronomy Tower, anywhere but where they were.

In the end they finished up in the hospital wing, to find out how Lily was and to try and set the record straight.

She wasn't there. Instead, they found Remus, pale and battered.

Sirius sat at the foot of the bed, James to the side, and Peter on the opposite side, not talking, merely waiting for their friend to wake.

Madam Pomfrey came out from time to time to check on her patient and to cluck at the three boys.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to the fidgeting Sirius, Remus' eyes fluttered open to take in their presence. A smile flitted, somewhat painfully, across his features.

"Hi guys," he breathed laboriously.

James smiled in return. "You look reminiscent of shit."

"I seem to be hearing that a lot lately," Remus replied slowly, still managing to inject the familiar sardonic tone into his words however.

"Got anything you'd like to tell us?" Sirius asked, arching an eyebrow almost impossibly high.

Their friend didn't answer, instead making a feeble attempt to sit up. James moved to help him, propping the pillows up so he could make it. At exactly the same time all three of them caught sight of the gash running clean across his shoulders.

"What _happened_?!" exclaimed Peter. James and Sirius had frozen, replaying the events of the night before.

"_Diffindo Corpal!" he cried. _

_The jinx hit the werewolf across its shoulders, splitting the flesh open into a wide gash._

"I honestly can't remember," Remus replied, not noticing James and Sirius shell-shocked expressions. Peter, on the other hand, did.

"You both look like you swallowed a Niffler!" he said, grinning.

"What's the matter," Remus asked, on edge, all of a sudden terrified.

"You're a werewolf..."

His worst fear had just come true.  
--------------

_Madame-knight – I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Yes Snape doesn't do much without an agenda though. He's not ALL bad… just seems that way at this time of the story._

_Child-of-scorpio – haha, your review made me laugh! Found a pitchfork yet? Yes Snape is nasty, but we knew that already, no? I'm sure he will get some sort of comeuppance at some point though..._

_Actrez – ah, you like this story as well? I think that DEFINITELY earns you a platinum star (for reviewing all of my stories – I love you!) and a diploma in loyalty. Hehe, if you're feeling very brave check out my new baby it's considerably different to any of my other stories though (just a warning there). But anyway, I am babbling. Never a good sign._


	9. Seriously Talking

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Seriously Talking

Peter laughed amusedly before coming to a confused halt. "I don't get it."

Remus couldn't look either James or Sirius in the eye. "How?"

"You almost killed us last night," Sirius replied dryly.

The brown-haired boy inhaled a deep, shaky breath. Then suddenly urgent; "None of you got scratched did you? Or bitten?"

They all shook their heads and he sighed in relief. There was an awkward pause while the usually relaxed group of boys studied each other hard.

"Look-"

"If you-"

"I understand-"

They dissolved back into silence again. "You go first," prompted James to Remus.

"I know this must be terrible for you all, I understand that. And I know that you'll want nothing more to do with me after this. I'd just like to say you were the best friends I could ever have had and I appreciate the time we've had together. I just request one thing, please could you not tell anyone of the nature of my malady. Parents would not want their children being in the same place with someone like me and I do not want to dishonour Dumbledore's school because he's been terrific to me." Remus sighed, seemingly content to get the speech off his chest and resigned to what he knew was coming.

"Dumbledore knows about you?!" squeaked Peter looking at Remus as though he'd grown a few extra heads. Remus was used to this reaction, he'd had the same from his parents and family.

Sirius looked thoughtful but James was shaking his head, his expression inscrutable.

"Lupin," James started, "if indeed we did decide to have nothing else to do with you, it wouldn't be because you were a werewolf." Remus looked startled, his eyes asking James to carry on.

"You've kept this secret from us for over three years," Sirius continued. "It's the basic rules of friendship mate; trust. You obviously didn't trust us enough to tell us of something that majorly factored in on your life."

"It wasn't that at all," Remus protested, pushing fingers awkwardly through his brown hair.

"It's a wonder you haven't killed us all in our sleep!" Peter cried hysterically. The two other boys looked at him sternly.

"Being a werewolf doesn't mean he's not still our friend, Peter," Sirius growled. It was that kind of prejudice that started wars.

"He almost _killed_ us last night. I don't think you quite understand!"

"We were there too Peter – you wouldn't find two more understanding people. But this is Remus, our _friend,_ if the positions were reversed do you think he'd – do you think _we'd_ – abandon you?" James finished, watching Peter shrewdly.

The shorter boy seemed to be thinking hard. Eventually he shook his head, he reluctantly looked at Remus. "Sorry," he muttered.

Remus looked amazed. "It should be me apologising to you!"

"For what?" Sirius asked.

"Well, from what I understand, practically killing you?"

"It's not like you control the wolf," shrugged James. "But the point is, you didn't tell us at all! I mean we could have helped you or something."

"How?" asked Remus. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but most people run for the hills. Why do you think I spent so much of our first and second years in the library, hidden away? I couldn't let anyone close enough to find out! But then you guys came, and you really are the best friends I've ever had, I didn't want to lose you!"

Sirius and James nodded, as did Peter after a moment's pause.

"Forgiven," Sirius said. "Now lets get you out of those pyjamas and into something wearable! We have a lot of scheming to do." He grinned familiarly, the memorable mischievous glint already in his eye.

Remus – for his part – was completely overwhelmed. He'd expected them to react as Peter had, to treat him like an inhuman beast, but they'd barely batted an eyebrow at the actual fact he was a werewolf. He left the Hospital Wing on cloud nine with his friends, his _friends;_ the bond between them had incredibly strengthened now that everything was out in the open. The adversity they'd been through together only adding to their union.

After they'd gone, Lily alighted from behind the hospital bed at the end. She had forgotten her tie and returned to get it only to find herself blocked in by the 'Marauders'.

The conversation had shocked and confused her. She was now privy to a secret she wished she wasn't. It explained Lupin's cuts and bruises though.

But then if they were out the night before 'almost being killed' by the werewolf, when did they push her down the stairs? She puzzled the thought, walking slowly out of the Hospital Wing.

* * *

_Actrez – yes but it's all ok for Remus in the end! Thank you SO much for reviewing Moonlit Carvings, I personally love the story but so far only you and Victoria27 have reviewed, which is VERY nice of you :) Anyway, you very much deserve your platinum star!_

_Crogirl – thank you for reading and reviewing my story! I'm glad you like it! I hope you enjoy this chapter also._

_Child-of-scorpio – again, your review cracked me up. Please don't kill Snape quite yet – I need him for the rest of my story – but when I'm done you're free to do whatever you please! I very much look forward to more of your feedback, lol._

_Xx Susannah xx_


	10. Gossip

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the occasional character/plot.

Gossip  
  
"Sirius that is actually _complete _insanity!" exclaimed James, rolling his eyes wearily.

"It could work! We just need a bit of time... patience, and it could really help Remus."

Remus looked up at his two best friends, who were currently debating another of Sirius' outlandish ideas. "Sirius, as much as I appreciate _everything _you are doing for me – actually I'm still kind of in shock – I don't think building a cage in our dormitory is _quite_ the way to go."

"Well I'm out of ideas," sighed Black resignedly.

"Thank god," muttered Peter. Out of all of them he was the one who had offered the least. Remus was sure that he was avoiding him, and really, he couldn't blame the boy, but he knew if Sirius twigged he'd get pissed off. The brown-haired boy found it rather ironic that Sirius was actually touchier and more prone to offence about the Moon-phase thing than he, himself, was.

"There must be _something_ we can do," pondered James. "I mean we can't transfigure in a cage but there must be some plan where you're not left on your own on the full moon."

"Dumbledore says he's finding a place outside Hogwarts for me to spend them," Remus said, trying to keep the slightly despondent tone from his voice. "He says he can't risk another night like that, can't risk me being in the Forbidden forest and so close to Hogwarts."

"Where will he put you?" James asked, calculatingly.

"I think he said something about Hogsmeade..." Remus replied slowly.

James and Sirius shared a look and Remus could practically hear the cogs turning.

"I don't want to know, do I?"

"Just trust us, Lupin. Trust us," James replied conversationally throwing an arm around Remus' shoulders affably.

_Total chaos_, was Remus' only thought.

* * *

Lily heard her voice echoed through the corridors. She turned and waited patiently. There was only one person who called her name in that particular tone of voice.

Caroline quickly shimmied into view, her robes entirely too short, her heels to high, her bag impossibly small, Lily smiled. Some things just never changed.

"Well haven't you been busy since I last saw you?" Caroline surpassed the usual greetings, getting straight to the point.

Lily blinked. "How so?"

"I've heard all about you and Severus Snape being spotted together this morning." The Ravenclaw drew out certain syllables in her words giving the impression of almost singing the sentence.

"There's nothing going on," protested the Gryffindor quickly. "He was just being bizarrely friendly. I didn't know he could even be _nice_," she added as an afterthought.

"Well as the rumour mill goes, he doesn't half like you."

Lily considered this. She didn't particularly want to be the 'talk of the school' but for time being it seemed somewhat inevitable.

"And I've been told everything concerning those nasty 'Marauder' boys. I mean who would've thought?" Caroline linked arms with her, happily rambling on.

The redhead smiled internally, just last week Caroline had been head-over-heels in love with each member of the elite Marauder clan. But Lily herself was beginning to disbelieve Snape's claim about the boys. If they were outside, tangoing with death, then would they really have had the time – or even the presence of mind – to push her down the stairs?

"You must really hate them." The Ravenclaw added, breaking Lily's thoughts.

The redhead processed this thought quickly. She shook her head. Somehow, she didn't hate the four boys at all, well not anymore than she had done before anyway, and she didn't think she'd be able to hate them even a little bit more until she had discovered what had really happened. Especially with all the werewolf business thrown in.

The fact remained though that somehow she had ended up unconscious, and it had something to do with the Marauders and something to do with Snape. Lily wished once again that she could remember anything at all from the night, but her mind was just as blank as it had been that morning.

The rest of the school had already passed judgement on the four boys though. Originally quite well liked, they were now barely talked to. Snape had been transformed from a sly - somewhat geeky - Slytherin into a fifteen-minute hero and Lily was treated like some kind of martyr with respect and sympathy.

And all her 'friends' who had just popped up out of nowhere - as she was the centre of a lot of attention - were urging her to consider Snape as a possible relationship. The girls were caught up in the hopeless romanticism of the inter-house connection and Snape's 'heroic' act.

It didn't help either that 'Severus' had suddenly become charming and almost... sincere? But Lily couldn't shake the inkling that there was something seriously wrong with the situation that she'd overlooked and couldn't for the life of her think of it was.

Caroline was, of course, in her element. Being Lily's longest (and technically only 'real' friend) she was in a position to rule the roost over Lily's new found following. Of course, the kind of instant popularity the event had conceived was the kind where one makes as many jealous enemies as one does friends, and a fair few admirers.

In fact, to get away from the frenzy of attention she was receiving, Lily ended up in her bed – with the curtains drawn – just shortly before eight, still wide-awake.

The past twenty-four hours were the weirdest she'd ever experienced. It was as if her whole world had been turned upside down, overnight popularity was something she'd never wanted, and now it had landed on her doorstep she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with it. And the weirdest thing was that she couldn't even remember the events that had led to her recognition.

The fact that the four Gryffindors were being ostracised didn't affect her so much, she was still in the state of mind that they deserved everything that was coming to them, seeing it as a kind of repentance for past years of grudge-holding. But Lily was not an unkind girl, and before she finally judged them she was going to find out the real events of the previous night.

And she knew just the way to do it.

* * *

Responses  
  
Knight-whosays-ni - I'm sorry this chapter took so long coming! But i hope it's kinda-semi worth it hehe  
  
Child-of-scorpio - i am dreadfully sorry for the wait, but here is the next chapter! Read and enjoy!  
  
Actrez - yes, Remus we still love you :)  
  
Sweetginny86 - thank you so much for reviewing my last chapter! Yes, we all know what happens from now onwards, but - as you know from all my stories - i like to add twists, so it may not be quite so straight forward!  
  
Thank you everybody!!  
  
xx Susannah xx  



	11. Wanderings

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters 'cept Caroline, I just enjoy playing with the rest.

Wanderings

It was just after two-thirty a.m. on a Sunday morning, and a shadow stole along the sixth floor corridor.

Lily moved somewhat awkwardly with two huge tomes beneath one arm and her wand clutched in the other. She stopped stock-still when she heard shuffling up ahead.

Lily listened hard; the shuffling seemed to be coming in her direction. She peeped very cautiously around the corner. At first nothing registered in her vision only a mixture of darkness and the vague shadows thrown by the waning moon, but then she managed to distinguish two dark shadows moving close to each other against the wall – straight towards her.

Lily made a noise much akin to a mouse being sat on before ducking behind the suit of armour to her left.

"Did you hear that?" came a whispered exclamation from the now-coalesced-into-one shadow.

"Yes…"

Lily had a sudden vision of 'the shadow' talking to itself and felt laughter well up inside of her. As long as she stayed quiet she'd be ok… Yet as it often is, the quieter one tells oneself to be, the more noise is generally made.

"It's probably just a lost first-year," came the first voice again.

"What at two-thirty in the morning?" muttered the second, slightly deeper, voice. "They'd have to have been lost for a very long time!"

"Well this year's one's are pretty stupid – I found one saying the password religiously to that door-that's-really-a-wall on the floor above Gryffindor, I mean how dumb can you be?"

"Digressing again, Black," the second voice murmured.

_Ah, so it's Black and Potter. I wonder what brings them on nightly wandering._

"Much as I appreciate being compared to first years, I happen to know my way around Hogwarts just fine thank you," she announced, purely to keep the giggles that were about to crack her rib at bay. After all it was only Black and Potter, they couldn't really tell on her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

"Evans!" exclaimed Potter. _Mmm, a quick 'un. _"Where are you going?"

"I could ask the same question," Lily retorted, "but I don't really care. Good-night." She strode away down the corridor, the moonlight from the windows playing across her head and shoulders.

The redhead allowed a smile stretch across her features, she really had just been very mean – but they deserved it. The smile abruptly disappeared though when she heard more scuffling, this time to her right. For a short second she thought it could be the two Marauders back again, but quickly realised it couldn't be.

She turned her head just in time to see figure disappear from view. Now who else could be out at this time of night? Maybe it was Filch? This thought sent her along with no further ado.

She entered the library stealthily, darting between the stacks. Now came the bit which she'd spent the whole day preparing for; taking out her wand she began the complicated wand arcs the charm required and whispered the words simultaneously.

A tiny white light was emitted from the end of her wand, dancing delicately before her eyes. She smiled, so far, so good.

"Memory loss and regain," she murmured to the light.

The white light paused for a few seconds before going blue. That was a good sign.

"Show me."

The light flitted away, only barely visible between the towering book cases. As Lily predicted, it went straight into the restricted section, a floating book merged seconds later, coming to rest directly in front of her.

She grasped it and the light faded and went out – it's job done. Unwilling to open the book straight away in case it needed some sort of charm to unlock it, Lily shrunk and pocketed it. The Gryffindor thought that the book she would need would be in the restricted section, after all, unravelling a memory was not child's play.

* * *

Across the castle, Severus Snape was also awake.

He sat down on his bed taking from beneath his cloak a tattered book. He knew wandering Hogwarts halls at night was generally marked by running into the people that he disliked the most – namely Gryffindors, but he'd seen no one on his nightly travels, although he thought he'd heard someone on the sixth floor corridor. Shaking it off as his imagination, he opened the book.

_A Potion to Binde a Memorie_

_Thou wilt neede;_

_An objecte from the time the memorie was composed,_

_A locke of haire from whom the memorie belongeth,_

_Three quarts of vampyre bloode,_

_Ten hairs from a night-dwelling Harmendyr,_

_Five Urblethyme stones._

_Leave mixture to stand beneath a full moon for eight houres. After this time make sure they whom the memorie belongeth to drinks the tonic within two hours of it having been ready._

Snape smiled ruthlessly. He still had to get the Urblethyme stones, but the rest he already had. A lock of red hair, a small bronze Knut that Pettigrew had carried, a jar of deep red liquid and a small pitcher with 10 dark black hairs in it sat - quite innocently - on his bedside cabinet.

He was going to make sure that Lily would never remember anything that had happened that night.

* * *

_Responses:_

_Long time, no see eh guys?_

_Knight - whosays - ni _ - yes snape is a greasy git, and i think suspense is spelt with an s... but it's 5 past 1 in the morning so i'm not sure! Thank you for your review, i hope you enjoy this somewhat belated chapter (sorry!)

_Child - of - scorpio - _I'm sorry i didn't update this as soon as could be hoped. But hey, here's the new chapter, enjoy! And thank you for your review!

_ Actrez - _hehe, i'm glad you liked it! And yes, Lily's off to find out what happened. But she may be in for some problems...

_Nimue88 - _i'm sorry about the delayed update AGAIN but i hope you continue to enjoy my story! Thanks for the review!

_Ash _- Thanks for the review!

_DobbyGrl_ - So sorry for the wait! Keep reading though, twill get interesting.... :)


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